The Racer and the Rebel
by The Pyroman
Summary: Anko and Naruto Mitarashi leave their home in Japan for a new live in San Fransokyo, hoping to leave their past for good and start again. Naruto, a gear head and wrench monkey with a high speed addiction for adrenaline and the wind in his hair, finds himself going to the most prestigious institute in the city, gaining both friends and enemies as he starts making waves.
1. Welcome to America!

The Racer and the Rebel

It was a new day for Naruto and Anko Mitarashi. There were new people to meet, new places to go to, and new pockets to find your hands in.

And maybe some new heads to roll.

Just as Naruto imagined, the plane ride from Japan to San Fransokyo was cushy and easy. First class had its perks, and he wasn't just talking about the flight attendants. He was lucky enough to have been gifted heavily salted peanuts and more than three kinds of soft drinks!

He was truly living the high life.

"Hell...o..." Naruto muttered to himself, testing out his new vocabulary. It sounded right to his own ears, but he wasn't sure if he cleared up his accent enough for people to be able to understand. "How ar-e yo-u? I..name is, Mitarashi Naruto."

Though his mother was a much better speaker of English than he was, Naruto knew a few words here and there from her own minimalistic teachings and hearing conversations.

He could feel his mother smiling warmly at him as the two of them left the terminal. She knew he was trying, and that was all that she asked of him. She should have started his English lessons before back when they were in Japan. She knew this was a possibility, and she knew that it would have been easier on them both had the gotten him a teacher.

"Good, Naruto." Anko praised him and ruffled her son's hair. "Now, we will be talking mostly English from now on to help you learn, okay?"

She couldn't help but let out a laugh at her son's continued grumbling. She was only slightly taller than her son was, and yet she was treating him the same as when he was only up to her hip.

"O-kay." He responded to her. "When it... is just you, and myself?" He was unsure what the correct words were. English was so confusing to him. As difficult as it was to use the language correctly, he refused to let simple words from keeping him from having fun in the new territory.

Anko, who was wearing her iconic tan trench coat, reached inside the coat and pulled out two passports from a hidden pocket. Naruto reached for the one closest to him and began to inspect it.

The passport was of himself. His full stated name, and country of origin, as well as the locations in which his passport had been stamped at.

He looked to his mother with a curious eye. Nothing needed to be said between them after she nodded back to him to confirm his thoughts. His steps slowed as her hastened, allowing her to take the lead and meet one of the men checking the passports.

"How are you today, Ma'am?" The burly security guard took her passport with a single hand, his other one ready to take Naruto's passport.

"Just fantastic. The papers were right, Japan is lovely this time of year!" Her accent was gone without a trace. She smiled and laughed to the guard, who couldn't help but to join in. Her eyes lingered to Naruto, who silently passed his passport to the guard while he was distracted.

"Maybe I'll save up enough and take a trip there myself! The wife would love it." He looked at Naruto's passport and handed each of them back to their respective owners. His hand rose to hold the brim of his invisible hat, tipping it to them and smiling.

"Welcome back to America folks!"

* * *

It wasn't long until Anko and Naruto retrieved their bags from the return and were on their way. Anko had set up for one of her personal contacts to pick her and her son up from the airport.

The two sat across from one another in the limo that Anko had her contact pick them up in. As requested, it was filled with drinks and food from the San Fran culture.

"San Fransokyo was the first and only attempt by Japan to expand beyond their main territory, having disliked technological growth and expansion before. Though the Japanese were not the first to have arrived in the area, the early Americans did not deny them the opportunity of new land. In time, San Fransokyo became the meeting point of eastern and western cultures. It wasn't until nineteen oh-six that Japan stepped in fully to help the settlement after a massive earthquake that San Fransokyo became the metropolis that it is today."

Anko looked at her son and closed the book in her hands. It was a brief history of the formation of the rather unique city, written in both Japanese and English.

"Thank you for the teaching." Naruto nodded to her lazily. He took a sip of the can of soda in his hand and set it back down in the cup holder. "But, I want to kno-w more about where we... are living now."

He looked back on his life before the sudden relocation to America. It was always just him and his mother. His father was long dead, he knew that much, but nothing about who the man was. His mother told him that he was just another target, some Jason Bourne type. He was the cream of the cream of the crop in his own organization, but was still nothing to Anko.

Naruto was the offspring of a night of passion, a surprise to the killer who didn't have the heart to kill her child. Anko used the resources she had acquired over the years to train Naruto and keep him at his peak. His body had long since adjusted to handling nearly any and all poisons, and was trained in many different areas to be useful in all situations and scenarios. Stealth, espionage, hot weapons, cold weapons, hand to hand, he was formidable in all of it.

In every aspect, Naruto was a ninja.

But there was something that set Naruto even further apart from the rest.

Anko decided that now was a good time to surprise her son, and threw a crumpled piece of paper at the young man with all the force she could muster while trying not to catch his attention.

Naruto could hear the paper piercing the air and could feel the air being pushed around. His hand raised in front of his face, stopping the paper from making any contact with him.

The wadded up piece of paper spun and floated in the air in front of Naruto's hand. With the subtle movement of his fingers, the paper was pushed around to his other hand to be caught.

He unfolded the paper, which turned out to be a brochure of some sort, and inspected the front of it.

"You're going back to school, sochi." The smile Anko cast could be heard within her voice. The smile only grew wider upon inspecting Naruto's joyous change in tune upon reading more into it.

"San Fransokyo school of Technology." Though Naruto never admitted it, he worked wonders with engineering and dabbled in various sciences. He always wondered if he could crack his strange abilities so that he could make them more powerful, or to learn how they truly worked, but his true passion lay within thermodynamics and engineering. "You didn't." He asked in wonder and disbelief.

"I know how many hours you've spent in that workshop you call a garage, Sochi. All of those cars and other motorized things you have in there are more than enough proof to me that you want to more than spending your days racing." She raised a smirk at Naruto upon hearing him chuckle nervously.

The young man scratched his head and laughed, grabbing his drink again and taking another sip. "Racing? That is against the law." He smiled at her innocently. She wasn't buying it, that much was obvious, and he knew that it was nothing more than a little show and joke. "I like working on my cars and other projects, but racing is... ill-eagle and deadly. And I do not need the money either. We have more than enough, mother." The look of innocence did not fade from his face.

Anko laughed at her son. She picked up the history of San Fransokyo once more and continued to read to herself, allowing Naruto to take the time to read up on the brochure that she had given him.

Not more than thirty minutes had passed when the limo arrived at Anko and Naruto's new house.

What was once previously an apartment space was now completely owned by Anko and Naruto. The previous residents of all of the apartments had all been relocated to other apartments within the city without moving fees as an apology for running them out of their homes.

All of the boxes containing their belongings were already shipped to the new house. It was just a matter of them unpacking and decorating the house to their liking. Anko was unwilling to let anyone touch her things other than herself and Naruto. She had trophies of all sorts from the men and women she had killed in her time, not to mention family photos of herself and Naruto as he grew into the fine young man that he was now.

The two of them left the Limo and took their bags with them, stepping into the building to see their plethora of boxes about the main floor.

"Beds should be up. You don't have to stay in the room they're in, but just sleep there for now" Anko told him. She dropped one of her bags down on the floor and walked up the stairs.

Naruto knew the basic layout of the house from the plans that his mother had shared with him many months ago. They had an entire apartment complex to themselves, and any one of the rooms could be his.

He yawned and stretched. Though it was only noon, jet lag and being up for most of the plane ride made Naruto extremely tired.

The two departed for the rooms with the beds in them to get ready for another new day.

* * *

Naruto woke up with a groan to the morning light shining on his face. Of course the room that he slept in had to be facing the rising sun, and of course it had to hit him wright in the face as the dawn broke.

He grumbled in annoyance, tossing and turning to move away from the sunlight. His thin blanket was not enough to protect his eyes from the sun, and he had nothing else but his arms to act as shields in the barren room.

Anko burst into the room soon afterward, wearing only her trench coat, a simple bra and matching pair of panties.

"Morning sochi! Any fun plans for this morning?" She yelled into the room. Her voice echoed loud and clear throughout the house, having opened all of the rooms in the building for this specific reason.

Naruto groaned once more. His lazy and aggravated gaze aimed at Anko with the intent to kill, or go away at the very least. She was always like that in the morning, chipper to an impossible point for the sheer sake of annoyance. She always greeted him and woke him up in the mornings, sometimes more or less dressed than she was now. Her lack of clothing never fazed him. She was his mother, and it wasn't like she was hiding anything that he was never aware of. Sometimes she held a knife or gun on her, but nothing biologically surprising.

"Sleep..." He grumbled in reply. "More sleep."

"You've gotten your eight hours, you're fine." She smiled and pulled the blanket off of him quickly, watching with amusement as he curled up to conserve heat and groaned even more and protested to getting up.

He knew that she was not going to stop. She would always find a way to have the last laugh, even if it ended up killing her. If he did prank her, she would return it tenfold. If he were to do anything, she would get back at him. It didn't always have to be right after. Sometimes months would pass before she returned any favors, but always got him back, often times, she would lull him into a false sense of security, making him think she forgot.

Naruto rose slowly. Fighting her was useless. Not only was the smarter and more cunning than he was, but she had trained him from the ground up. She knew everything that he could do and knew at least twelve ways to counter it all.

In the same way that he did not care about seeing his mother in nothing but underwear, Naruto didn't have any shame or embarrassment when wearing only trunks around her. He had some clothes in one of the bags that he had brought up with him. A pair of black pants and an orange and black track jacket, as well, as his favorite headband. He carried the symbol of the Hidden Leaf, the crime organization that his mother worked with for a number of years before retiring to America. They were like family to him, and it was a shame that he had to leave them all behind.

"So there's a little cafe a few blocks away. You won't be starting school for another week or so, so you can get used to the new city." Anko leaned against the frame of the door. "Lucky Cat Cafe, it's called. The head of the Institute told me that one of your classmates lives there."

"I've been meaning to ask you about that." Naruto zipped up the black and orange jacket over a simple black tee shirt. "The Paper. The bro-chur. It says that admittance is gained through some sort of exposition."

Anko shook her head and stepped forward to ruffle her son's hair. "Don't worry, I convinced the Dean to let you in, given your skillset and talent, not to mention your records back in Japan."

Naruto sighed and shrugged. "But it seems unfair." He wasn't one to talk about being unfair, but he knew his passion, and he knew that other people had passions as well. If he were in their shoes, he would sure be mad that some no-name kid from another country just waltzed in rather than showing off their skills like the others. "And what will the others of the school say when they find out that I was just...admitted?"

"If you feel so strongly." Anko pulled out her phone from her trench coat and tapped on the screen. "I'll talk to him. You can't go back to the easy route now, sochi."

Ha already had thoughts and ideas for what he could create to be admitted into the school. While he could have simply taken one of his older projects and put them on the stand, he wanted something new, he wanted a challenge for himself. Something so fantastic and spectacular that it would knock the socks off of everyone in the immediate area.

"You have twenty." Anko's voice pulled Naruto back into the plane of reality. He knew those words all too well, and waited until his mother left the room to bolt out with his hygiene bag and find the nearest bathroom.

Anko held Naruto to her own standards in certain things. She always took twenty minutes or less to fully prepare herself for the day, and expected Naruto to do the same. If she could get fully washed, make her face, do her hair, and get on all of her clothes in only twenty minutes, Naruto should be able to do it in five.

The two of them got themselves ready for the day and met back at the ground floor, where all of the boxes still lay scattered on the ground.

Naruto waited at the bottom of the stairs for his mother. His hair was freshly dried and as spiky as usual. He never needed special products or gels to keep his hair up. His hair was just always up.

He was not at all surprised to see his mother landing next to him from the top of the stair well. She landed unharmed, a soft whoosh sounding as she touched down on the ground. Like Naruto, she was gifted with mysterious abilities to control the wind. She loved jumping and climbing things. It was one of the many things that he took on after her. She was always a fan of _**hard-core parkour.**_

"Ready to go?" She asked him.

"Yes." Naruto nodded back, his purple and blonde hair shaking with the motions of his head.

The two left the building and descended upon the hill that they lived on.

* * *

A full month passed since Naruto and his mother left their new home for the first time of many. They had gotten to spend their morning at the Lucky Cat Cafe, where they met the owner of the cafe, Cass Hamada. She seemed to run it well enough on her own, though did complain that her two genius nephews lacked the intellect required to get her some sort of robotic help.

Naruto had yet to meet either of the Hamada kids. Tadashi had been working on a new project overtime at the institute, and Hiro had just gotten his high school degree. At only thirteen, Hiro Hamada graduated high school in its entirety. Not even Naruto could laugh at that fact.

But it wasn't the time to think about Naruto's future classmate and his brother.

Now was the time to show everyone his newest invention.

Naruto stood on the circular platform in the large show room, a singular light focused on him as he looked at the onlookers.

He would be lying if he said he was not anxious about getting in. All of the other admittees were just as smart as he was in their own fields. There might have even been some competing for his spot in the same field of thermodynamics and engineering. His English wasn't all that refined either. His accent still got in the way of many English words and sounds

"Hel-lo." Naruto spoke into the microphone to garner attention. "Hello?" He repeated, ensuring that most, if not all of the eyes in the room, were on him. "Yo."

"Technology advances more and more every day, but the world, especially here in America, is troubled by one problem." He paced over the stage, his hands moving with his mouth as he spoke. He stopped pacing to address his topic. He creating knife hands and sliced downwards. "Fossil fuels."

He began to pace once more. "The transition to electricity is slow here. But I have two new creations that will solve the problem." Again, he stopped, his arms spread wide as he stood at the end of the stage.

"Mamushi." He whispered just a moment before jumping off the stage and into the crowd. The onlookers cried and screeched in fear, but none of them were harmed, only treated to the sound of light humming.

Naruto levitated over them almost silently. As they looked up, they saw the young man with a set of mechanical wings, outstretched as far as they would go.

"My first invention for you to see is my winged jetpack." He hovered backwards slowly; rising more and more the closer he got to the stage. "The wings retract and expand, based on the muscles used in your arms and back, and is propelled by two special jets." Naruto played around as he explained, moving all around and spinning. "As fast as a real jet plane, and as small as a toy one."

"The jets are powered using my new fuel. It is unnamed, but is as safe as electricity with the power of...tank...Tank fuel..." He tapered off quietly, landing back down on the ground silently. "Deseel!" He exclaimed. His finger shot up in the air, forcing him to rise once again.

"The fuel is of my own making. I don't want to bore you all with it. It would just sound like I poured fuels into a jar and shook it." He smiled at himself, seeing the positive feedback that his inventions were getting. "I was falling asleep when I thought of the formula, and spent the next few days working on it."

The explanation for his inventions went on without a problem. He wowed the board with his display, and all too soon it was over.

Naruto hovered back to the ground for a final time that evening. With his display over, Naruto took off the backpack and stored it away in the case he had brought it in. While he was putting it away, he noticed a black and purple head of hair fading into the crowd. He had almost mistaken the hair for his mother's but the person walking away lacked Anko's trench coat. He shook his head, wondering who else liked purple in their hair.

Naruto was approached by two people. The first of which was his mother herself, standing next to an older looking man in a sweater vest.

"Great gaki! it went great!" Anko cheered for her son and put him in a head lock to ruffle his hair. "I knew you could do it!"

Naruto laughed and attempted to escape, only to end up having to wait until she released him.

Though silent, Naruto knew that the man in the sweater vest was waiting to speak. His calm and warm smile upon seeing the mother and son duo. His entire demeanor was welcoming.

"I have to admit, Naruto-san. I did have my doubts about you when I was informed about you being invited into our school without having to show at the expo." He stepped forward and bowed the two. "Robert Callaghan. You'll be attending my robotics class."

Naruto was skeptical about the middle aged man. His mother nudged his forward, whispering into his ear.

"He isn't in with the program." Anko whispered into his ear in their native language to evade Callaghan's ears. Even with his ear to an engine most of the time, Naruto's hearing was as good as it could be. "Just that we're foreign. Be polite."

Callaghan seemed not to notice. "Whether the mind comes from next door or overseas, I welcome new people in my class. I can't wait to see what other projects you devise with me and your classmates."

Callaghan's hand rose first, quickly followed by Naruto's to shake. Naruto found it only respectable that he show the older man a similar politeness. He was his new teacher after all, and getting on his bad side would not be good. He didn't seem to be capable of having a bad side, but Naruto knew the saying all too well.

Demons run when a good man goes to war.

"Class starts next school year. I'm sure you'll get along with your classmates swimmingly." He smiled and chuckled to himself, his weight shifting from one side to the other. "I'd say prepare and study up, but I think you'll be just fine."

Naruto wanted the evening to be a racing night, but without a car or other vehicle at his disposal, Naruto could not race. He was sure to not even be counted if he used his new wing pack, so he instead celebrated his entrance with his mother.

* * *

The two moved from the Exposition hall to the Lucky Cat Cafe, where Cass Hamada worked, singing jauntily and jovially all the way there.

The door was opened by Naruto, allowing Anko to step in first.

She waltzed in to the cafe as if she owned it. She was so proud of her son for gaining admittance into the institute.

"Oh, hey, it's you two!" Cass smiled the instant that they entered the cafe. "How'd the expo go?" She leaned further on the counter to get a better look at the mother and son duo, wondering how things went.

"Guess who just got into the San Fransokyo Institute of Technology~!" Anko sang aloud, pulling her son into another headlock. Her free hand pointed her thumb at the boy to indicate that she was talking about him.

Cass smiled and hopped in her place. In the month that had passed, Anko spent many of her mornings at the cafe, talking to Cass and getting food for herself and Naruto. Sometimes she would stay longer than anticipated to listen to Hiro and Tadashi's accomplishments in school. It was going to be Tadashi's second year at the institute, Anko heard, meaning that Naruto was going to have someone that knew his way around the campus to help him if he ever needed it.

"Tadashi! Hiro! Come over here and meet our new neighbors!" Cass turned to the stairs leading up to the living quarters of the building.

A young man popped his head out of the paneless window into the kitchen to see who Cass was talking about. His black hair and brown eyes were nothing special to Naruto or Anko, with their purple hair, and blue and amber eyes respectively, but they did get a laugh out of the kiss the cook apron that he was wearing.

He looked at Naruto and inspected him, smiling briefly before pulling back into the kitchen and walking out through the door. "So you're Naruto, huh?" He looked up and down at the young man. "I'm sorry we didn't talk much before the Expo. I've been working on something new, and I'm sure you blew the board away with whatever you made." His hand extended briefly, but was put down before Naruto would shake his hand. Tadashi seemed to have been aware that they were not from America, and bowed to them instead. "Hamada Tadashi, nice to finally meet the both of you."

He turned to the stairs as Cass did, leaning forward and even taking a few steps in that direction. "Hiro! Get your lazy butt down here, we've got guests!"

Naruto and his mother joined in the Hamada tradition of looking at the stairs while waiting for the youngest of them to join the public.

All too suddenly, a yelp came from the stairs, immediately followed by the tumbling of a hooded figure. Naruto had urge to leap and save the falling figure, but the hand on his shoulder kept him from acting upon his instincts.

The figure groaned, a hand reaching to rub his forehead to soothe the pain.

Tadashi laughed and stepped towards the short figure, helping him to his feet. "Nice entrance, goofball. How's your head?" Tadashi pulled the hood off to reveal a mess of jet black hair and tired eyes.

"I'll be fine, just been working a lot." He continued to rub his head, not seeming to have noticed either of the two figures. "Hiro Hamada, nice to meet you two." He spoke unexpectedly, not bothering to look at Naruto and Anko.

Cass laughed anxiously and moved to Hiro's free side, patting his shoulder in an act of comfort. "He's just tired. He's been working day and night on something new, a robot! Can you believe it!?" She jumped and clapped her hands ecstatically, bouncing within a small invisible circle to avoid hitting anyone.

Cass tried just a little too hard to be cool and supportive to her nephews. She was the cool mom, the fun uncle, and the crazy aunt, all rolled into one brunette being. Hiro's nervous laugh and Tadashi's more sincere one showed that they cared for her in return for her efforts, even if she was a little more embarrassing than most guardians.

"A robot?" Naruto inquired. "Can it think on its own? Or is it controlled by the remote?"

"Remote." Hiro answered monotonously. "AI is tricky, and the bot is too small to fit what I need to make it an AI." He began to shift to one side, then the other, wading back and forth slowly as his eye lids drooped lower and lower.

Anko looked at the youngest of the group warily, wondering if Cass should have been fixing him a mug of coffee or an energy drink of some sort.

Cass's head popped up as she bolted into the kitchen. "We need celebration food! For the newest student of the San Fransokyo Institute!"

Naruto laughed with his mother, the two of them being guided to a table by Tadashi while Hiro ascended upon the stairs.

Another hard thud and groan of pain from the stairs turned the three available heads to see what had happened to Hiro this time. None of them saw him at the bottom of the stairs, and Tadashi presumed the best and that he fell down near his room.

"I'll be right back." Tadashi excused himself to help his brother.

Anko and Naruto sat down across from one another at the table, waiting patiently for Cass to deliver their food to them. They both wondered what she was making for them. Naruto doubted that Cass made noodles on a regular basis, being the owner of a cafe, but it did seem more likely that she would prepare dango and other treats for them.

He wondered if the dango she was possibly making was any good. It must have been to some level in order to maintain the cafe, but Naruto was sure that whatever quality it was, it was not as good as his own recipe.

Naruto had taken the initiative to shut down a dango &restaurant in the past when they refused to give them the recipe list. The &restaurant also operated as a black market outlet, which eventually moved to a ramen shack not too far away from there. Anko was not happy that he had shut down the place, but he always managed to make up for it by making her dango using the recipe.

Cass returned with a tray of drinks and foods for the two of them. A small mug of coffee sat on an equally small plate for Anko. It was black, and the mug was surrounded by little containers of creams and sugars if Anko so wished to change it. Naruto had the pleasure of getting a soda. It wasn't nearly as interesting as her mother's coffee, but it mattered little to him.

Naruto dug into the food. He did not care what it was, only that it was consumable and pleasurable to his taste buds. Anko ate at a more humane pace, pausing and stopping every so often to talk to Cass, who sat backwards on one of the chairs.

"So, I take it that Naruto's wing thing went well?" Cass had already been informed by Anko what Naruto had been building, and Anko assumed that it was safe to say that through her, Tadashi and possibly Hiro knew as well.

"Yes." Anko nodded. Her hand wrapped around the mug of coffee. She took a swig and sighed in relief. "The board loved it. It even blew Professor Callaghan away."

Cass bobbed her head, nodding to both Anko and her own unspoken thoughts. "He is a tough cookie to actually impress." She noted. "He's seen a lot of cool science stuff in his day, I know that much. Even Tadashi had a bit of trouble impressing him the first time he tried out for the show."

Cass laughed to herself jovially. She lacked the brains that her nephews had, but her heart lay within the right place. After the fiasco of last year's expo, Cass decided that she would let Tadashi and Hiro perform in peace. She did what she could to help morally, but she was no good with machines like the two of them.

They ate and the chatted the night away. Tadashi had joined them some time later after ensuring that Hiro was alright and off to bed.

Soon enough, closing time came around and Naruto and Anko left the Lucky Cat Cafe for the evening. Naruto decided on waiting to give Cass his dango recipe.

World class black market food doesn't come cheap.

* * *

 **Hello everyone, and welcome to a new story somewhat out of left field, The Racer and the Rebel! This is a challenge that was given to me by my friend and beta, Ogreman, and he is the one who oversaw the creation of this chapter, as well as all of the ones to come.**

 **Like Ice Fox and An Offer You Can't refuse, this fic will be in my main lineup at the moment, and will be seeing updates regularly** **.**

 **In any case, I hope you all enjoyed the first little chapter, and don't forget to read, rate, and review!**

 **Until next time!**


	2. The Racer

A week since the Expo had passed, and Anko had made it a point to get Naruto more acquainted with Tadashi and the Hamada family. School would be starting in a little more than two months, and she wanted to make sure that her son had at least one person that he knew on the first day.

Anko had also been meeting with her American contacts, re-establishing her web of information to ensure that life for her and her son would continue to run smoothly in the city. Yama, one of her old friends back in her mission days, had a similar idea of starting fresh in America away from the Hidden Leaf. He fled years before and was able to get started earlier than Anko, though that never seemed to be disadvantageous for either of them. Even through thick and thin, nothing helped a deal among friends like a little extra money.

It was another sunny morning in San Fransokyo, the sun shining in Naruto's room as it did every morning, but the sun was not the factor to wake him up that morning.

Naruto could hear a faint rumble from underneath him; the floor shook ever so slightly. It was not nearly enough to move anything, but Naruto was able to feel it when he set his feet down on the ground.

He did not have to take any guesses. The sound was all too familiar to him as he rushed out of his room and down the stairwell with a mighty leap, pushing the air down just before he touched the ground. He bolted outside in only his boxers and a light shirt, looking at his mother lying down on a bike.

But it wasn't just any bike.

Naruto's jaw dropped to the ground. He couldn't believe his eyes in the slightest.

Anko smirked at her son in his 'piss-your-pants-in-excitement' look. Her body spun around on the long seat of the bike, sitting down on it normally and revving it up for her son's pleasure.

The bike that Naruto was so excited over was his own personal motorcycle back in Japan, fitted with four independent wheels for maximum mobility and maneuverability. It used a heavily modified Yamaha chassis and shell, the arm struts completely redone to support four independent wheels. The handles were made similar to a racing bicycle's handles, lower on the body and vertical. They each moved, rotated, and swiveled to control the wheels and speed.

The early morning light reflected sage green rays from the sleek and angular body of the bike, as if Anko had been waiting for just the right moment to display the bike and herself.

"Hunter." Naruto whispered to himself in disbelief, slowly walking up to the bike like it was the love of his life and touching the green metal. He smiled at his mother, jumping on the bike as she hopped off.

He smiled to his mother, catching the helmet that she had thrown at him with ease. The strands of what seemed to be rope on the end spun and flew about before settling back down with the pull of gravity.

"Don't be out too late." Anko waved her hand dismissively. "And if I find you at the station, I'm shipping that thing back to Japan, no matter the risk."

Naruto groaned and put the sleek helmet on, activating the light on the side. His helmet bore a striking resemblance to the Predator helmet from the movies, but much smoother, sleeker, and designed to function as an actual safety helmet.

Revving up, Naruto took off while his mother laughed behind him, going as far to fall over in a fit of laughter.

Naruto would realize soon enough.

* * *

Naruto raced through the city without a care in the world, turning on every dime and getting back into his groove with his one of a kind cycle.

Even as early as it was, the city was still full of life. Many people's days were just starting, though some were about to end. Not everyone worked on the same nine to five schedule.

However, the one thing that Naruto did not anticipate was taking one of the ramps up to the highway, where a race seemed to have been taking place.

Luckily for him, all of the other racers were on motorcycles so they were unable to call him out on using a different vehicle to win.

He weaved between the cars, trucks, and other cyclists, making quick work of them all except for one.

Though the one racer used a two wheeled cycle, this one person that Naruto seemed to be an equal match for stayed ahead of him through thick and thin, weaving between the vehicles with ease and precision. They were always directly ahead of Naruto, ensuring that he could not pass.

Naruto grunted underneath his helmet. He pushed two buttons on the handles of the bike, one on each handle, and the bike jumped into the air and rode atop a large semi-truck. From there, he raced on the top of the trailer and into a small clearing, just large enough for him to speed up without having to maneuver too much.

In little time, Naruto had caught up to the other racer and rode to their left. The other rider attempted to push him off the highway, but upon seeing the predator mask on top of a thin and toned body wearing nothing but a simple t-shirt and a pair of boxers...The distraction of Naruto's attire was more than enough for them to nearly collide with a car that they were gaining up on.

The rider swerved and screeched over the asphalt, taking the nearest off ramp to get off the highway and collect themselves. They grunted and shook their head, threatening to rip the helmet off and throw it to the ground.

Soon enough, the other racers joined the first at the bottom of the ramp, circling around them. They each looked at the first rider expectantly, curious as to what the plan was in terms of the new unexpected racer.

With a sigh, the rider took their helmet off and set it down just in front of them, revealing a black head of hair with purple streaks.

The feminine figure reached up to her mouth to pull out a piece of wadded gum, flicking it to the ground and preparing another stick to chew on.

She scowled at the highway, grunting and remembering the sleek black predator mask, the two burnt orange fang designs burning a mental image into her mind.

She slipped her helmet back on to conceal whatever her face may have been doing at the time, pulling on the throttle to get the attention back on the bikes. "Looks like the Predator changed up their hunting grounds, boys. Let's catch us a racer."

* * *

Forty minutes.

Anko counted.

It took exactly forty minutes and twenty two seconds for Naruto to zoom off to god knows where, then return once he realized that he had left the house in nothing but boxers and a tight muscle shirt.

It had been only ten minutes since she had recovered from her laughing fit, but broke down again immediately after seeing her son drive home at sixty miles an hour, stop the bike on a dime, and fly into the house to change into something more appropriate.

When he returned to what had been appropriated as the living room, Naruto shot his mother a threatening glare, to which she had replied with a ready smirk.

"Have a fun ride, Sochi? Breezy enough for you?" Her eyes did not leave her copy of the first volume of Bible Black as she asked her question.

He said nothing back to her, only raising his middle finger. Though she only glanced at him, it was more than enough time to get her to laugh at his reaction. It was nothing new between the two of them. Badmouthing and insults were never reprimanded when used against one another. Instead, it was a competition to see who could sling the best, crudest, or most profound, insults.

"Lucky Cat run, would you like anything?" Naruto pulled down the book so his mother would be forced to look at him. He stood before her in black jeans and his leather racing jacket. The orange collar of the jacket was unbuttoned, the entire jacket unzipped to reveal his mesh undershirt. The jacket itself was black on the shoulders, arms and the upper portion of the pecs, below that was a white horizontal stripe separating the black top from the orange bottom. The elbows of the jacket shared the same orange tone and the white separated the two colors again in that area as well.

Naruto's casual riding helmet hung on the coat rack, finding itself in his hold only moments after he garnered his mother's attention. It was a black half helmet, a thick orange stripe in the middle with two strips of white breaking up the two colors. A jagged S shape lay in the middle of the orange near the bottom of the front of the helmet. It had a grey visor, just enough for protection against the sun without keeping people from seeing his eyes.

"Nothing for me, kiddo. Leave a nice tip for them, though."

"Hai." Naruto nodded and left through the open door, placing the helmet on his head on his way out. It was strange to see some more bikers outside, but it was nothing startling to him. None of them seemed to be the ones he had raced against about an hour before, but he had been moving far too fast to really take note of any of them. Maybe they had always been riding around and he had just never noticed them before. Their faces were hidden behind reflective visors and masks, not dissimilar to the visor of his predator mask.

They only appeared for a brief moment before departing, heading in the opposite direction that he was moving in.

Naruto rode at a calm and casual pace to the Lucky Cat Cafe, the dual wheels in the front and back closed up to be used like a more normal bike.

He parked right next to the door of the cafe and took his helmet off before entering at a leisurely pace.

"Hey, Naruto!" Tadashi greeted him, his voice a little more breathy and laboured than normal. "Any fun plans for the day? I wish I could join you, but I had to rush back from the Institute to get on shift here at the cafe." He fired off his words at a hundred miles an hour, speaking in a single breath, despite all of the short pauses.

"Well. Thank you." Naruto was not quite sure how to respond to him other than with a polite bow paired with unsure words. "But nothing is planned for today."

The room was filled with silence, only the faint sounds of life outside made it to Tadashi and Naruto's ears. People talking and walking, cars driving by, motorcycles purring as they hovered around the cafe, the occasional bird, cat, or dog singing their songs for all to hear.

"Anyway, I am just here for something to snack on. I haven't eaten yet today." Naruto pardoned himself and leaned ever so slightly against the main counter. "A chocolate muffin, if I may?"

Tadashi reached into the glass cabinet to pull out the requested food, his free hand stretching over the counter to push the correct buttons into the cash register. "One-fifty will be your total today." He placed the muffin down on the counter, sliding over to the register.

Naruto was silent. He looked down at his feet; his breaths almost formed words, but nothing that Tadashi could begin to understand.

Slowly, he reached for his wallet, unfolding the piece of leather and counting the bills as he pushed them from one side to the other.

He gave Tadashi just two dollars, the correct amount without the need for coins. He still wasn't quite used to the different system of money that America used. It didn't seem nearly as much as Zen, but he wasn't going to complain. It felt a little more humbling to him to buy the same things of the same quality, but with an exchange rate that used much less zeroes.

The sound of coins ringing in Naruto's ear alerted him that Tadashi was returning his change to him. He pocketed the two silver coins and took the muffin, biting down on it and taking a seat near the counter. His eyes glanced out at the window, observing the world outside as he ate his breakfast.

"Something bothering you, or still not used to the city?" Tadashi seemed worried about Naruto. He leaned forward and looked to the younger man, curious as to what was passing through his mind.

Naruto shook his head, still looking out the window. "No, it isn't that." The muffin was set down on the table, almost completely forgotten. "Just thinking."

There was a pause that neither of them really wanted to put an end to. "Japan was a little dangerous. My mother always made sure that I was aware of everything, so...it's just a habit I will have to break."

Tadashi shrugged and stepped around the counter, placing his hand on Naruto's shoulder and patting it firmly. It wasn't a bad habit to have, especially in such a big and dangerous city. With Yama's gang in their neighborhood, not to mention the other gangs and illegal rings around the city, always being vigilant was rather helpful. "It's a good thing to have, Naruto. Some people just move in and expect the movie city life, usually having to move out because they weren't ready for the real thing."

"I'm...going to head out. Stay safe, Tadashi. You can always call if you need help." Naruto suddenly stood up from his seat and took off, putting his helmet back on and walking out without another word to his friend.

Tadashi was much less worried about Naruto's strange behavior than the normal person should be. "But..." He tapered off as the door closed behind his friend, the bell attached to the door chiming as it hit the hammer on the door frame. He looked down at the table in despair, his eyes watering ever so slightly.

"The muffin..."

* * *

Naruto was on the fast track to his motorcycle. He stepped quickly and lightly, sparing little time for anything else other than getting on the bike and circling the block the cafe sat on the edge of.

He patrolled the area. The bikes seemed to but a memory now. There weren't any traces of other riders on the block as far as Naruto was aware. He had gone around the block at least fifteen times before returning back to his house.

He considered taking point somewhere to ensure that the Hamada family would remain safe throughout the day, assuming that whoever he took notice of was after them and not him. In the event that they were after him, and not the family, staying around might attract more danger to them.

After he made his rounds, Naruto left the block and rode away from home. His mother could certainly handle herself if someone decided to attack their house, if they made it past the hidden defences that is. There were pros and cons to fighting side by side with his mother, but he decided to stay away for the time being to ride out his sense of danger. She didn't need him to wipe out a few waves of assassins or hitmen; it would just have been a little easier with him at her side.

Naruto rode at top speed through the city, winding and turning at every opportunity.

He turned hard on a corner and stopped so suddenly that he almost fell out of his seat. A child stood in the middle of the smaller road, looking at the bike that stopped only a few feet away from him.

Naruto's breathing hitched. He nearly just killed a child, and had he not been as good as he was, he might have accidentally done the deed.

"Hey! Little guy! It isn't safe playing in the street! Come on back over here!" A voice to the side of the street called out to the child, urging him to come over.

The owner of the voice, tall and lanky, rushed over to the boy and scooped him up in his arms, the boy laughing and giggling. The man who held him looked to Naruto. They shared the same blue eyes. What blonde strands Naruto had also seemed to be the same color of the man, possibly a few years older than him, if he had to guess anything.

"Sorry about that man, the kids can be a little bit of a handful." His words chimed with that surfer accent that Japan had made a stereotype for all people of California.

Now that Naruto thought of it, America seemed to have adopted the stereotype on its own before other countries got the drop on them. The south was all "Yee Haw," and the north was New York. Then everything west, especially California, had that surfer accent.

"It is nothing. I should have been more careful." Naruto shook his head and smiled at him, watching the man as his expression went from lax to excited.

"Dude!" His blue beanie almost flew off at the speed that he rushed over to look at Naruto's bike. "I know this bike! You must be a big fan of the Predator too, right man?"

"Predator?" Naruto questioned. He obviously knew the name, but was curious as to what the man knew about it.

"Yeah, the Predator. Fastest racer in all of Japan, and a vigilante who brings the lowly scum of Tokyo to justice! He's like a real life superhero!" He paused and set the child down, letting him scurry back to the sidewalk to one of the tables with food. "I'm F... Franko," He extended his arm out to shake Naruto's hand. The hand was met, and the two shook hands briefly before returning their arms back to themselves.

Naruto laughed. The Predator, while also the titular character for a movie series, was also the codename for a racer in Japan, who used a helmet much like the Predator's helmet. He wasn't a superhero, though. The Predator was just a racer who often put an end to chase scenes and robberies when he happened to be nearby.

"Naruto Uzumaki." He introduced himself. "I guess you could say I'm a fan. Before I moved here, I made this recreation of the Predator's motorcycle. It was difficult, but I think he would be proud." He smiled at himself for more reasons than one. He was surprised that the name reached so far out of Japan. There had been a rumor floating around that the Predator had stopped so many car chases in his time that the Chief of Police wanted to give him an award of bravery and outstanding achievement. It never happened though. He was still an illegal underground racer, and being nice to cops wasn't a thing that illegal underground racer vigilantes did often.

"Your mustache...Did you dye your mustache a different color than your hair?" Naruto unsnapped the helmet and removed it from his head, tilting sideways and inspecting the patch of jet black hair carefully.

Franko was quick to turn his head to the side, looking away from Naruto and keeping his face out of easy view. "No way, man. It's just, like, always like that. Black mustache and blonde-ish hair." He shook his head and turned even further away. "Don't think about it man. I've got that Hetero-chrome stuff in my hair."

Naruto chuckled. He wasn't quite sure what to say about the strange and eccentric man, but he could not speak a word before one of the children called out to Franko.

"Mister Frank! Megan keeps saying that this clothes box is too big for me, but it's got the same number that I do!"

Franko laughed and spun around to talk to the kids. "I'll talk to you later, Naruto. Have a good one!"

Naruto didn't leave right away. He chose watch as Franko left to talk to the two children, telling the girl that she shouldn't have been keeping the boy from the box of clothes. The girl seemed to apologize to the both of them, but Naruto left before any more could be revealed about the situation.

He was a strange fellow, that much he was aware of, but Naruto knew that the city was most likely filled with more strange people.

The rest of the day was spent becoming lost inside the city, wandering in an out of every street to find where it lead, and what was in the area. He had found many little shops during his journey. There was a little flower shop, a sushi restaurant, a few more cafes here and there, hobby shops, parts shops, and various other places.

Due to the prominence of the Institute of technology within the city, San Fransokyo was heavy on what was known in the west as geek culture. More intellectual places, like hobby shops, workshops, places for various parts for various creations. Robots, houses, anything was possible with the right parts from the right places. It wasn't a case of the west taking eastern culture, as many would believe, but a fine mix of the two from hundreds of years of co-existence. Eastern variations of western things, and vice-versa, were commonplace within the city.

The day was over too soon, and Naruto returned to his home when the lights had gone down in the city, and the sun shone on the bay.

Hopefully, his sleep wouldn't be interrupted again by the wonderful sound of another one of his custom machines this time around.

* * *

The morning welcomed Naruto with several notifications on his computer, namely many about the underground racing circuits that he had one of his mother's contacts look in to for him. He was an old and perverted bastard to be sure, but he knew everything there was about anything illegal, even outside of Japan.

"Let's see what that perverted 'sage' has for me today." For the first time since he had arrived in America, he spoke to himself in his own language without his mother's permission. He hardly ever spoke out loud in Japanese any more, mainly out of fear of his mother's punishments if he were to not follow her rules, but it also did help with getting to know the language better.

The self-proclaimed _'Sage of Toads, Perversities, and 'Perveyor' of Beauty'_ , Jiraiya had done a little more than just given him information about racing circuits. There was information on an old friend of his mother's; Yama. He led a gang and had his own robot fighting league in the underground, but the robot league did not interest Naruto all too much. Naruto didn't dabble much into robots. He preferred his vehicles, but he could see the use in power armor and robots to assist in fighting and combat.

Apparently, the strange lanky man in the beanie that he had seen before wasn't the only one who was aware of Predator. There had been a racer by the name of Slipstream, who was directly calling out who they believed to be an imposter of Predator, wanting them to race so people could see who was better.

Naruto chuckled at the challenge. He wasn't some crime fighting vigilante, just a racer who knew what to do in a time of danger, and how to make the police aware of it. On the other hand, who was he to deny someone who had been hailed as the fastest racer of Japan the thrill of a challenge?

He tapped the buttons on his computer, letting Jiraiya know that he wanted to inform the supposed Slipstream that the race was on in exactly one week, and also where they would be meeting.

With everything decided, he sent the message and waited for a response. It would be about one in the morning back in Japan, and Naruto had done his math correctly, and the old pervert should still be awake by now.

The answer was almost instant, another notification popped up on his computer, alerting him of a message from Jiraiya. He had indeed sent in information about the upcoming race to Slipstream, whoever they may be, and told Naruto that would keep him posted on any more news to come.

Anko soon made her presence known by the knocking on his already wide open door, making her son jump in surprise at her sudden, and unexpected, appearance in his room.

"Morning, sochi." Her common greeting to Naruto was common. She smiled at him widely and walked furtherer into his room, regardless of whether or not he wanted her to come further into his room.

She looked over his shoulder and scanned the computer screen, reading the invitation from the racer Slipstream, as well as the racing information that Jiraiya had given to the both of them, posing as Predator.

"So, that old fart is still giving out race information? Sochi, you gotta go out and pick these races on your own some time." She smiled at his head shaking, fully aware that she was saying the wrong things to him.

"But mother." He said back to her. "This Predator persona is mysterious and shows up unannounced to races. Old man Jiraiya has always helped me with the races and stuff." Naruto didn't always enjoy admitting that he relied on his perverted godfather for racing information and keeping the Predator identity up, but he wouldn't have been the man he was without Jiraiya's help.

Anko simply rolled her eyes at her son, letting him do as he pleased. He was eighteen, he was his own man. He may live with her, but neither had any problems with the situation. Naruto knew that he had to stay with his mother. They might have been out of Japan now, but there was always the possibility of someone hoping to attack them, and neither of them were planning on letting the other go without someone they absolutely trusted watching their back.

The days passed and it got closer and closer, and Naruto continued to tune up his bike here and there so his win would be ensured.

When the night of the race finally came, the racers gathered at the front of the San Fransokyo Institute of Technology. Jiraiya had spread the news about the race to other racing circles to watch the race. Apparently, the race had gone viral, and while there were only two competitors, the audience was another matter entirely. The size of the audience basically screamed that this might as well have been an official race, at least in terms of audience.

Naruto rolled to the race in his Predator Helmet and a different, blue and black racing suit to further conceal his identity.

His opponent was already waiting for him at the starting line, which just so happened to be the exit to the parking lot of the school. The lot had a single entrance and a single exit, making the area only one way to merge with the flow of traffic and create the least amount of accidents as possible.

Winding through the entrance, Naruto looked around as the racers and racing fans cheered him on, wishing him the best in the new country. He almost didn't stop at the exit, another bike moving in his way to grab his attention and look at the rider.

They used a custom bike like Naruto did, however the other bike was much sleeker than the average bike, longer than one as well. Both of the wheels seemed not to be connected to the bike itself, using some sort of magnet system to move and keep the bike up. To ride the bike, it seemed like they had to mold their form into the seat, the rider's body lying almost entirely across the bike.

However, the rider sat up,

Like him, Slipstream wore a full body suit and completely covered their face with a helmet. Unlike Naruto however, Slipstream was obviously a woman. The racing suit hugged her shapes and curves, highlighting them even with the dim light of nearby street lamps.

Slipstream's hand reached up to the side of her helmet and pushed a button. The black visor that cloaked her face shifted to a completely clear one.

She wasn't happy in the least. Her face, adorned with an angry scowl, pierced through Naruto's helmet and bore into his eyes.

"I'm the queen of racing in this city, and I'm going to prove it to everyone that I'm faster than the legendary Predator. There's only room for one legend in this city, and she's been living here since birth."

Naruto had to stifle a laugh. It wasn't that he wasn't intimidated, certainly not. She did strike some fear into him, but he was laughing at the fact that she was so angry because he outmaneuvered her about a week ago.

"So," Naruto's voice shifted in tone and sound through the use of a voice modulation device. "Where to? The Highway I raced you on? Lucky Cat Cafe? The docks?" The device within his helmet changed, altered, and shifted his voice constantly, ensuring that anyone recording his voice would be nearly unable to crack it.

"The docks." Her answer lacked any humor, and before Naruto could register the strange look on her face, Slipstream pressed the button on the side of her helmet again, the visor now pitch black once more.

Backing into the starting position, Slipstream raised a hand and motioned forward. A young woman stood between the two racers, flags raised high.

"Ready?" She called out above the roaring engines. They roared like wild lions striking fear into their prey.

"Se-" She was cut off by Predator, who sat up on his bike and turned to look at Slipstream, who sighed loud enough for Naruto to hear.

"Wait up." Naruto raised a hand to the girl standing. "What's the prize? Racing for fun is fun, but it's boring when there isn't anything at stake."

She didn't reply quickly, taking her time to decide a worthy prize. "If I win, you unmask and announce that I am a better racer."

Naruto nodded and agreed with her prize. "And If I win, you tell everyone that not even you can best the Predator, and will connect me to the best races in the city."

She seemed to think that it was a fair enough prize. His home was in Japan, not America, and he most likely didn't know where any of the racing circles, leagues, or circuits were in town. If she was going to be honest, she was actually rather honored that she was racing against the best in Japan, but he did it in such a calm, jovial way that stomped on all of her hard work.

Leaning back in his seat, he nodded to the girl. "We can start now."

She chuckled at his smiling tone, raising her flags again. "Ready? Set, go!"

The racers took off, engines roaring. The crowd cheered behind them, becoming less and less audible the further away they became.

Slipstream being able to keep up with Naruto and his bike was a surprise, but it wasn't anything that struck fear into him in relation to winning the race. Her magnetic wheels removed friction between the bike and the wheels, but he did have his worries about breaking and stopping.

Thoughts aside, Naruto stayed in pace with Slipstream, doing his best to appear to struggle against the other racer. With the help of the fuel that he decided to test just now during the race, he could easily reach new heights in terms of speed. His bike urged him to move faster, not yet reaching its maximum speed with the new fuel. He did his best to resist the temptation, riding next to Slipstream and matching her speed.

His movements angered her to no extent. She knew that she was faster than he was, but she still couldn't shake him. As the two rode up the ramp onto an all too familiar highway, Slipstream weaved through the cracks in an attempt to break herself away from her opponent.

Naruto was unable to mirror her, but instead, he jumped onto the other side of the highway and continued to race her while he also dodged the oncoming traffic. He was sure that he could hear her groan of annoyance, even as chase music played through his helmet, and laughed to himself and sped up, jumping back over once he got a leg up on her.

He inched closer to her, trying to edge her onto the exit. He didn't expect for her to throw herself and her bike at him to get him to back off. Fearing her safety more than his own, he backed away, knowing that his wider and heavier bike would surely take a better hit than her smaller and lighter one. If they were to actually clash, he was worried that the magnets in her bike would lose the wheels, causing her to tumble around in traffic.

Down streets, down hills, left, right, Naruto matched Slipstream at every turn. No matter how she moved, he'd always find a way to move faster, quicker, and better than she could. Shops passed by in the blink of an eye, most notably the Lucky Cat Cafe, that little sushi place, and the flower shop that Naruto had taken note of during his walk through the city.

Soon enough, the two found themselves in the industrial district near the sea. Slipstream turned violent, doing whatever she could to win the race. It was only now that Naruto decided to test the limits of the new fuel, bolting past Slipstream with ease as he reached the end of the docks, skidding to a halt as he neared the water.

A full twenty seconds passed before Slipstream angrily raced up to her opponent, her scowl being detected by Naruto even through her helmet.

Her visor was flipped up as she came to a halt, jumping off of her bike once it reached a low enough speed. The mask of the Predator leered into her eyes, making her unsure if he was smirking underneath or completely uncaring about the situation.

"I win." His tone was flat and monotonous, the visor of his helmet like a dark abyss.

Slipstream looked into that dark abyss of black, watching her own reflection in the dim light. It was almost heartless; the feeling of eyes watching her back was not present, only her own brown eyes looking back at her.

Naruto didn't give her a chance to speak before zooming off away from the harbor.

Slipstream was tempted to slam her helmet down onto the ground. First she was beaten on the highway, and now this? She glared daggers at him as she watched him ride away, barely noticing the little index card that he had left behind.

She stepped towards it, kneeling down and listening as the squeaking of the leather was the only thing that broke up the sound of the crashing waves. It was turned on its back, the Predator's helmet in a simplified logo, painted in black ink. Her fingers spin the card over, allowing her to look at the other side of the card and inspect it.

 _"Or did I? We're the only ones who know who won. I'll be in contact."_

The lettering was crisp and clean on the backside of the card, almost like calligraphy. The underlining was dark and heavy compared to the thin strokes of the letters, as was the punctuation.

She groaned again. He was so cocky in that monotonous tone of his. Dumbly dark and mysterious. He was letting her take the win out of pity and for her own reputation. What was more, he had that card prepared, he knew that he was going to win, and how he seemed to always keep up with her made so much more sense now.

She crumbled the card in her fist and pocketed it, grumbling to herself as she put her helmet back on and rode back into the city.

Whoever he was, she owed him one.

* * *

 **Hello everyone, I hope you enjoyed the second chapter of The Racer and the Rebel. Naruto finally starts getting his custom machines in from Japan unexpectedly, but what else is his mother keeping from him? He met the strange lover of all things super Franko (it's absolutely his name don't question his identity), and got to race against the top motorcyclist in San Fransokyo. If you ejoyed the chapter, please feel free to Read, Rate, and Review so that all future chapters can be even better than this one!**

 **Until next time!**


	3. Knowledge is Power

**Racer and the rebel Chapter 3: Knowledge is Power**

Since his 'secret' win against Slipstream, Naruto had Jiraiya perform a background check on the racer he had beaten. He had yet to meet with her, but information on her seemed just as elusive as information on himself. He wondered who she had working to keep her identity under wraps. It had to be someone with training similar to Jiraiyas'. It was possible that she had done the work herself, but that would make several windows open for at least a day or two in the event that she was incarcerated. As he continued to ponder on how she was hiding herself, he was blissfully unaware that his object of recent fascination was having a similar thought process across town.

In another section of the city, a young woman spun a pen between her fingers. It had been approximately seven days since her secret loss against the Predator, and seven days since search results with her racing name have spiked considerably. At least, that was what her informant told her. She could have just been lying to lift her spirits, after all.

She sat, relaxed, on the couch in the small living room of their apartment, her eyes floating to the ceiling and her hands twirling and throwing the pen around with accuracy and precision.

"You should go and eat, dearie." A low and almost sultry voice called out to her, making the girl knit her eyebrows in instant annoyance. "Go to that sushi place that you like so much. Maybe the cafe with that other smart boy. Both are good prospects."

She knew that it was going to be at least another few days until she had any good information on Predator, but she didn't want to sit around for another few days. She didn't want to even attempt to endure the easy and normally persuasive words that preceded an equally low and lovely laugh.

"Mom. Don't." The girl spoke in her native language to the other woman, who pressed her waist against the back of the couch as she leaned over to look at the black and purple haired girl. "They are people you know. You can't just steal them for a good time. They have people they care about too. And morals."

"Gogo." The woman's tone was much less soft and easygoing now, but still held that low tone that her chords could not escape from. "You have heat, I get that, but you need to be outside. Working all day and night will harm you more than your racing, and I can't break time and spend time both looking after you and looking for this racer boy. He contacted us when I put that note out, and he'll contact us again when he needs you."

She had a point though, the girl admitted. Even if she couldn't ride out and embrace freedom as she normally would, she could take a walk or even a ride with one of her other bikes to the sushi restaurant.

The pen flew into the air for the umpteenth time within the minute, but did not return to the girl's hands. Instead, if found itself within the grasp of her mother.

The girl with the name Gogo huffed and rose from her seat, her mother leaning back and standing upright as well.

She looked back at her mother, taking in her appearance as if it were nothing new to her.

The older woman stood there in a knee length straight skirt, dark as the night sky, and almost unseen with the limited light in the room. The back of the skirt was knee length, but the front rose closer to the middle of her thick thighs, purposefully inviting and playful. Her black and white shirt, just like her skirt, was a half size too small for her body, though she claimed that it was the perfect size.

Gogo huffed again and stepped to the door. She herself was not wearing anything special. She couldn't judge her mother too harshly, especially wearing a hugging tank-top, a leather half jacket, and a pair of layered and ripped leggings underneath a pair of high shorts.

The door opened and she was on her way, but a hand on her shoulder pulled her back into the house, spinning her around to look at her mother, who wore a look of genuine concern.

"Be safe out there, Gogo. I want you to finish college and do great things." She was never a tender woman, but there were moments in which she did let out a certain level of care when she believed it needed to be voiced.

She and her daughter were never on the best of terms, especially after multiple incidents involving her mother's own promiscuity and people that Gogo were once close to, but she still did care for her daughter, and her personal conquests were always to find out the truth of the boys that her daughter was attracted to. They always ended up being liars and cheaters even before her, not that Gogo seemed to care. She only saw her mother sleeping with boys that she liked, and not of their true intentions.

She never saw the act, but she could clearly hear the boys and their astonishment of her mother. Hearing was enough for her, and there was a part of her that couldn't wait to graduate. However, she still loved her mother, even if she did hate her most of the time.

Her hard gaze softened, but she did not smile or show any real semblance of care. "Take care, mom. I'll be back."

Gyeong-Hui Tanaka smiled as her daughter left, closing the door to get back on the hunt for the elusive Predator.

* * *

Gogo carried herself casually to the little sushi restaurant that she and her mother normally ate out at. She needed some air outside and away from racing, even if she couldn't get her adrenaline fix for the day. She would have walked to the Lucky Cat Cafe, but she believed that she had called on Tadashi enough for now, and mostly likely didn't want to see her for a while after all that had happened in the past week.

"Everything okey dokey, _chamjima geunyang ukhae ukhae_ , Yeah." She sang quietly to herself upon approaching her destination.

Her eyes looked up to the deep mahogany sign that hung from a rustic metal bar. _"Emperor Sushi"_ was painted in a stark white with the English spelling painted below the kanji on both sides of the sign.

The door, like the sign, was a deep mahogany, small matte black pieces of metal holding it together. The door opened and a bell chimed, prompting for one of the chefs to greet her arrival.

Much to her surprise, Tadashi was sitting at the sushi counter with that blonde haired boy that stole the spotlight at the expo.

"So, have you been getting any letters or anything about your fuel?" She could hear Tadashi asking the other one, who had shaken his head in denial.

"No, but the Institute did want to interview me about it. I just wanted to help solve a big problem. I do not want to turn the world on a dime. This will make me too large in view and my other accomplishments may never be seen as equal value." He responded to Tadashi, unaware of the girl walking behind Tadashi and sitting to his left. She tapped his shoulder three times exactly to get his attention.

"It's revolutionary, you're going to help the world so mu-" Tadashi stopped speaking upon feeling a finger on his left shoulder. He turned to look at who was there, and smiled upon seeing the younger girl sitting next to him. "Oh, hey Gogo, what brings you here?"

She shrugged and pulled out a stick of gum, peeling off the wrapper and wadding it up only to shove the metallic paper into the pocket of her jacket. "My mom. I needed some space."

Tadashi knew that Gogo still loved her mother dearly, even if she wasn't the model mother that everyone hoped for. She was definitely much more okay with the baser instincts than many people were, but Gogo still cared for her even if they didn't always agree.

He looked back to Naruto, who looked at Gogo with a look he could not recognize. Something seemed to surprise Naruto, though he was completely silent about what it was that surprised him.

"Naruto." Tadashi called him, bringing him out of his trance. "This is Gogo Tomago. She's a first year, like you."

It had taken Naruto a moment, but he snapped back into reality and nodded at him. He looked at her, his brows knitted as he inspected her face. "Nice to meet you. Naruto Uzumaki."

To Gogo, Naruto looked as if he had seen her before, but she was almost completely certain that it was not the case. Maybe she had been seen at the expo, but that would not have elicited this sort of reaction from him.

"Gogo." Her elaborate explanation to her wondrous name was grand and full of tone, comparable to a single, perfectly straight black line on a pristine white wall.

In an act that surprised them both, Tadashi spread his arms out wide and wrapped them around Gogo and Naruto's necks to pull them closer together. "We're all going to be in robotics together, I wonder what other classes we're going to have together."

"We're going to have to pile our class lists together to find out." Naruto noted, to which Gogo simply let out a breath of air as her only response.

"And don't forget me!" A new person made their presence known from across the counter. He was much larger than the three of them, even when put together, but his very being spouted that he was nearly incapable of hurting someone.

Gogo looked to the dark-skinned man and his slicked back dread-locks underneath a hairnet. The required apron for the restaurant almost seemed too small for him, stopping only a few inches below his waist rather than down to his knees like it was supposed to fit.

He was one of the other friends that Tadashi had not yet introduced to Gogo, but it seemed like Naruto already had the pleasure of meeting him.

The burly man leaned forward, almost uncomfortably so as to join in on Tadashi's hi-jinks holding Naruto and Gogo hostage within his arms.

"Hello there." He said to them all quietly before returning back over the counter. "You must be Gogo."

The woman in question managed to slip out of Tadashi's grasp, Naruto following soon after her. "Did you put my name on a flyer or something?" She asked rather dryly, getting a chuckle from Tadashi while Naruto looked elsewhere.

"I've only talked about you and Naruto to one other person, don't worry." He motioned with his hands for her to calm down, though if she acted any colder, she might have actually started lowering the temperature.

Meanwhile, Naruto was busy chuckling to himself as the larger man looked around, wondering what Naruto was laughing at.

"What is it?" He asked frantically. Everything was in place, he had assured himself. He even moved Naruto's and Tadashi's chopsticks into the correct positions on their plates while they weren't looking just to sooth his thoughts. "What's so funny?"

It wasn't long until Tadashi caught on; looking at the apron that he was wearing and laughing alongside Naruto at his friend. When Gogo took notice, she cracked a smile and blew a bubble with her gum.

Naruto simply pointed to the apron, revealing a gigantic slab of Wasabi stuck onto the piece of fabric. It was about the size of Naruto's own head, and there was no feasible way that it was going to get out easy.

"Good going, Wasabi no Ginger." Gogo chimed, getting another laugh out of Naruto and Tadashi. The man in question only groaned as he did all he could to remove the stain before it set in.

"Nice one." Tadashi commented. He then looked to his friend, still trying to remove paste, and spoke over to him. "Looks like you have a new name, Wasabi."

He groaned in annoyance, the Apron now off as he walked around and continued his work. "I'm never living this down."

The now nicknamed Wasabi no Ginger was forced to walk into the back of the restaurant to go and change, leaving the three to their devices briefly. Gogo believed that the name was rather fitting for him, and whatever his actual name was, it wasn't going to be used in place of Wasabi.

Once again, Gogo caught the eye of Naruto looking at her, seeming to wonder where he had seen her before. It was starting to annoy her how much she was being looked at, even if he himself didn't look all that bad.

"Do you have a question?" She finally asked him, putting him on the spot whether he was ready or not.

Snapping out of his thoughts, he stuttered and fumbled over his words, looking for the quickest corner in his brain to pull words from. "No, no. You just look so familiar!" He laughed nervously, unaware that he had shifted from English to Japanese.

Gogo seemed not to care about this. He was foreign, she knew that right from the start, but it was strange to hear the dialect that he was using. Of course, she didn't speak Japanese herself, but she did know of the language, some words and pronunciations of things stuck out over others.

"We are going to the same school, and I was at the Expo too, you know." She said back to him, not letting her other thoughts be known.

Naruto had prepared to say something to Gogo in response to her little quip, but the buzzing of his phone pulled his attention elsewhere. The smartphone was pulled from his unzipped leather pocket to see what was happening.

Gogo looked at him, watching as his eyes widened in alarm while he shoved the sushi on his plate into his mouth.

"I really need to go." He said, his words slurred with immense amounts of white rice.

No longer than a minute had passed before Naruto was out the door that Gogo's own phone buzzed within her pocket. Her own message was just as urgent as Naruto's seemed to be, and she was forced to leave as well, leaving only Tadashi at the counter for Wasabi to return to.

"They're a fun bunch." Wasabi walked back to the counter, careful to not lean over another plate of spicy paste.

The other nodded, smiling as he looked at the door. "They're smart, Winston. A little hot headed, but they both have that drive to get things done."

Wasabi huffed. He did like his own name, but Wasabi no Ginger did have a special ring to it. Maybe he would hold onto it and not object too much. "Well I'm sorry that I put more time into my work than riding around San Fransokyo like a hooligan. Maybe if I did that, I'd be all buddy-buddy with a girl two years my difference."

While Wasabi did seem to take a jab at Tadashi's own personal interests, it did cause him to laugh at the thought of the neurotic man standing on the other side of the counter meeting someone like an older Gogo and actually becoming good friends with them and even partaking in their own hobbies.

* * *

Naruto walked back to his house, his eyes locked on his phone as his body steered him through the crowds. The texts that Jiraiya fired off at him were filled with curses and swears in multiple languages simply because there weren't enough in one language to properly articulate his current emotions.

It was something about the Predator identity and a hack war, something that Naruto couldn't completely piece together due to the small scraps of information he was given. Slipping through data streams, something like that. Computer science and hacking were areas that Naruto was not good at.

He tried deciphering the texts, but he figured that his mother would be able to understand the old, perverted, toad's ramblings better than he could.

His mother was already a step of him, it seemed. As he entered the quiet building, he could quickly hear the angry clicking of keys, the displacement of air telling Naruto that his mother was either ranting, or raving, about something.

He stood at the base of the stairwell, his legs crouched low as his hands were pulled up near his shoulders. He knew which floor Anko's bed was, and set out for the third floor. His hands hit the floor and his legs straightened out, Naruto jumping and pushing the air as he ascended up the wall to the third floor with ease.

He had flown up just above the railing that led to his mother's hallway on that floor. After his air stopped carrying him, he grabbed onto the rail and pulled himself forward, launching his body into the hallway. Another brush of air sent him to the door that he needed to be at, where the clicking of keys became louder and louder.

The door was closed, but he could hear the tapping as if it were wide open. His fingers wrapped around the stainless steel knob and twisted, pushing the door open and looking into the dark room where his mother sat on her laptop.

"Mother...?" He sounded off quietly. She was hardly ever in such a state, and wondered what Jiraiya had done to rile her up so.

"Shit, shit, shit!" He could hear Anko going off quietly to herself. In a strange and unknown turn of events, she smirked, her fingers tapping faster as she appeared to come to some sort of realization.

Naruto walked around to look at the screen that his mother was so focused on. Like he imagined, he could not understand a lick of it, and simply watched as she seemed to be winning at whatever she was doing.

Several minutes had passed in the dark room before Anko let out a sudden shout of relief, scaring Naruto somewhat due to the sensitivity of his ears and his proximity to her.

He sat on the bed as she calmed down, her breathing heavy and frantic while she smiled at her son.

"May I now ask what it is you were doing? And what Jiraiya was trying to tell me about?" He was almost hesitant to ask. Whatever she had been doing, which she had hardly ever done before, seemed far too invested to be more than a silly attempt to trick him.

"Me and that old toad just saved your ass, that's what." She cracked a wicked smile at her son, folding the laptop closed and setting it down further onto the bed.

"What happened?" Naruto implored.

"Someone was trying to find you." She explained. "Your Predator persona, I mean. Jiraiya finds out when people are looking for you, and does his best to deter them. This person, though, they were equipped to handle Jiraiya on even footing, and once he stepped up, they started trying to go after him. He needed me to initiate some sort of counter-measure while he held them off. We know for a fact that they're here, in the city, but we couldn't do more before we drove them off."

Naruto sighed. He needed a new face, a new identity. The Predator was already known by racers and casual people alike, and it was a problem that word about him existing in the states was out now. Inspiration hit the young man. His sullen look of worry soon transformed into a smile of hope and wonder.

"Can we bring in Prowl?" He asked excitedly.

"Prowl?" Anko asked back. It's a piece of junk. "You've made much better things than that, and you do know how risky it was just to get Hunter here, how many people I had to bribe into silence, right?"

"That's the point." He noted. He was very well aware of the piece of crap that was his first bike, Prowl, and that was the very reason that he wanted to bring it overseas.

The more she thought of it, the more she could see her son's train of thought. The bike known as Prowl had been brought into the world from scraps of police motorcycles and pieces that went missing from various places like factories and chop shops all around Japan. The Hidden leaf surely wouldn't care too much if a pile of scraps cobbled together moved from Japan to America.

She sat in silence, pondering their options. Now that she had a moment to think, Anko would actually have to bend to her son's wishes eventually. If they were actually able to lay low long enough for them to fall underneath the Hidden Leaf's radar, then Naruto would surely ask again with even less fear of getting caught. It was the least that she could do, as she certainly was not going to send over another, rather specific, machine.

"I'll think about it." Her words were sharp, just enough so as to not get his hopes up. However, they both knew that she was going to try her hardest to go and move another bike to the States for her son to work on. Maybe he would start making a few things on his own at the Institute.

The thoughts of the Institute came to mind, and Naruto was reminded of the afternoon that he had spent with Tadashi, getting to know their part of the city and helping him a little with his English.

"So..." Anko looked to her son, laying back on the bed that she sat on. "How was your day? Learn of any interesting places? Meet new people?"

"Yes, actually," He answered confidently, garnering a look of curiosity from Anko. "I met Wasabi and Gogo, two of Tadashi's friends." The names alone got his mother to laugh. Still, he sat next to her, looking down at her.

"Gogo? Wasabi?" What kind of names were those, she asked to herself. "Those are their names?" Even if they were codenames, which she was no stranger to, they were quite ridiculous.

Naruto tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Wasabi's real name is Winston, but he had this large slab of Wasabi on his apron at Emperor Sushi. I do not know what Gogo's true name is, though..."

Not that the words could be heard and understood on paper, Anko could hear a little tinge of something in Naruto's voice when he mentioned Gogo. He never stated the sex of the person, but she could hear it in his voice that Gogo was a woman. She knew her son like the back of her hand. It was only fitting that a creator knew her greatest creation, especially when Naruto was a direct product of her.

"Is she cute?" She asked suddenly. Her seemingly random question made Naruto jump in silence, looking at her as he wondered how she figured out that Gogo was a woman. She smiled more upon coming to the conclusion that her son was more interested in Gogo and her mystique than he let on. The reddening of his embarrassed face only seemed to prove her points further. Though deciding to 'explain a bit', she merely said, "Naruto, dear, I'm your mother, higher power forbid if I can't tell my son has his first American crush," she said with a smirk.

"It's not a crush!" He hastily replied, his words just a decibel above her howling laughter. "I'm red because you're embarrassing me." Neither he nor his mother believed in any sort of higher power, only the acts of man on the world, and she had taken that power numerous times. She never cared for the hopeful yapping of churches and priests, instead choosing to point and laugh derisively. Her son was raised with the same beliefs as her own, despite the strong lines of tradition that Japan held for their gods and deities. They'd much rather believe in aliens, mutants, and other realities than gods. Though not exactly, Agnosticism would be their system of belief.

* * *

While the two sat beside one another in Anko's darkly lit bedroom, Jiraiya sat by himself, his hands still quick at work as they strode over the keys set before him.

Whoever Slipstream really was, they seemed to have been the same person that was trying to find Naruto, and hack into his own system just after failing the former task. He spoke for Naruto, and he was sure that he was going to pass on whatever he found out about the racer, but there was only so much he could do without making decisions for the young man. They didn't seem to be aware that Jiraiya was not Predator, and more like the secretary, which didn't trouble the man at all... The less they knew the better.

However, amidst all of the fighting, hacking, counter-hacking and so forth, Jiraya picked up on the little flares of useless code that Slipstream was sending his way. They were actually trying to talk to him. Bits and pieces and fragments of words and sentences that had no reason to be in strings of incoming code unless they specifically intended for Jiraiya to see them.

When the hacks were dropped, they stopped like hitting a brick wall. All of a sudden, there were no commands, no extra bits trying to talk to the 'self-proclaimed sage'. It all suddenly just stopped, and he needed to know why. There was normally something, anything, that lagged behind, but that was not the case this time around; whoever he was dealing with knew their shit.

He sighed, his hands dropping onto the arms of his 'Leather Chair of Wonders' while he took in the situation. Slipstream was not only a racer, but a damn good hacker that was just as good as Jiraiya was. They could, given the time, give him a run for his money. This unprecedented problem worried him, and he knew that if he wanted to learn more, he was going to have to go back and use more analogue techniques for finding out the identity of this person.

He needed to talk to a couple sinners like himself, look into the area and have a talk with Yama to see if he could help any at all either. For now, he would simply have his computer and various programs go over the hack war and pick out all of those loose bits. Maybe he could actually get to reading what had been sent his way without having to worry about someone finding out about Naruto's identity and location.

However, it was too early for all of this. He needed sleep. The conversation could wait for the morning.

* * *

Anko received only a few short texts from Jiraiya before the old man apparently went to go and get some sleep. She didn't quite believe it, but it was of no matter to her. He was going to go and look into this mess, and she was going to do what she could from her side of the sea.

Now, she and her son sat once more at the counter of the Lucky Cat Cafe, making up a reason as to why Naruto had to leave so abruptly at the sushi restaurant earlier. Quietly, Anko read over the texts by Jiraiya, listening in on the conversation that Naruto, Cass, Tadashi, and Hiro were holding together.

"You mean to tell us that your mother needed you home because of a house fire?" She could hear Tadashi asking her son.

"Hey, hey." Naruto raised his hands to move with his voice. "Fires are dangerous Tadashi. You should never leave someone by themselves in a burning building."

Anko quickly shot Naruto a glare from the corner of her eye, one that promised a painful punishment for whatever she believed he had done wrong. She was fully capable of handling a fire on her own, but she did have to reason that it was a fair excuse, given that the Hamada family knew so little about them.

"I'm... not the best cook." Anko stated sheepishly to her friends and son, playing along with the scene that he had set. The look she had given Naruto informed him to not push too far, and simply leave it there. He knew not to comment further, after all, he loved his mother's cooking, and she loved his, if she stopped cooking for him, well, it just wouldn't be the same. It was a blatant lie to the two of them, but Hiro, Cass and Tadashi didn't seem to be aware of this fact.

"So..." Naruto brought the focus back to himself and looked around the cafe. "Who was that other girl with the weird name? How do you know her if she is just starting at the Institute as well?"

While Anko did smile at her son and his digging for information on a girl he was so obviously crushing on, Tadashi smiled to him as well and thought of how to answer.

It took him a moment, but Tadashi could only shrug and shake his head. "Gogo?" He looked at Naruto with a wider, knowing, smile than before. "Just like you guys, she just came to the Cafe with her mom one time, and because she's between me and Hiro age-wise, it was pretty easy to find a line of interests." There wasn't too much to say about Gogo. She'd always go about her own agenda, come and go at her leisure. He didn't always understand it, but the more Tadashi got to know her, the less he could divulge about her without her say-so.

"She left just after you did, but she didn't say why." Tadashi continued. It was odd that they both left so suddenly, for two emergencies that neither explained, but he was sure that they had their reasons.

Naruto hummed to himself and accepted the answer. He knew next to nothing about her, having just met Gogo, though she certainly was an interesting character with an interesting appearance. Her quiet and mysterious demeanor, her cool and watchful gaze, her pitch-black hair and that purple strand that she had. Her appearance was truly capturing.

Anko shot Cass a rather specific look, which the aunt of the Hamada brothers looked back to Anko and returned the look in full force. Neither said anything to the other, but their smiles only increased as time passed forward.

"We do need to get everyone together so we can see what classes we all share. Since you know everyone, could you organize it?" Naruto looked to Tadashi in a curious fashion.

Tadashi didn't see why not. If he were to organize a little meeting to see who's classes fell where, then it would have to be after the first orientation day, when all of the class schedules would be handed out to the institute attenders.

* * *

At Gogo's home, a different, but similar, conversation was underway.

"... And he just left everyone, the idiot." Gogo grumbled to herself, her body seated comfortably on the couch in her living room while her mother sat next to her with a little laptop in her lap.

Gyeong-Hui smiled to herself and continued typing on the keyboard.

"You sure have been talking about this boy a lot, Gogo." She teased her daughter, resulting in a huff from the younger girl.

"It's easy to write an essay on a topic you hate. Much easier to find reasons why you don't like something than compared to why you do." Gogo sighed and looked out the window. Indeed, she had just been going off about Naruto and their meeting at the sushi restaurant for ten minutes at the very least.

"I wouldn't say that." Her mother tried to talk her down. "You're always like this, I'm sure you don't hate him. You wouldn't say that about a man with 'sun kissed hair' and 'eyes like sapphires'." She laughed and smiled, much to her daughter's embarrassment of Gyeong-Hui using her exact words to describe Naruto back to her. "A foreigner named Naruto? I'm sure an exotic boy like him will go well for your specific tastes." Hers words were deep and husky, intentionally using her working voice to get a better, and hopefully funnier reaction out of her daughter.

Gogo quickly became a flustered and stammering mess of flesh and bones, unable to form any words to protect her from her mother's accusations which were not at all true in any way, shape, and/or form.

Quickly, she huffed loudly and looked away. "You could be using this time to tell me what you found on Predator and who was trying to keep you out of the system!" She let out in a high and squeaky voice, a single lock of hair falling over her eye. She tried blowing it away while her arms crossed themselves, but was forced to manually move it with her hands, still embarrassed and flustered.

Gyeong-Hui smiled silently, her fingers moving across the keyboard again. "I have a few ideas on who could have been trying to keep me out...not to mention the skills to do so..." She commented, Gogo's eyes going wide at the fact that someone actually had the skills to do so; make it more than just an attempt against her mother. "And if it is who I think it is, I need to start talking to my circles. This will be much larger than I first thought."

Gogo could understand to some degree. Predator was either just as her mother, or he also had someone watching his back and his alter-ego.

"I need answers from an old sage."

A full day passed, and Jiraiya once again sent a string of texts out to Anko and Naruto. There was little that he said to them, but they knew that there was always something more than what he put out on the table. They simply had to leave it be for now, and would have to get back to his rantings and ravings later.

* * *

 **Naruto's American Adventures One: Homage for the Dishonored**

In America, Memorial Day was celebrated on the final Monday in the month of May. It was a day to celebrate those lost while serving in the military.

For Anko and Naruto, it was far past May, and they knew not a soul that served in any branch of service. However, they did find it necessary to pay their respects to those who died during their missions.

As much as they disliked the Hidden Leaf crime organization, they had to admit that not all of it was sinister. They protected people, served for their country like any honorable force, and lost lives just like one too.

(Song start: Naruto Shippuden Road to Ninja OST- Rainy Day (Extended))

In the city of San Fransokyo, little were the number of places that had been untouched by development in some way or form. However, they found their peace at a little park, setting up a small assortment of pictures, followed by the lighting of incense.

Neither spoke, humming only a quiet tune as they prepared everything at the base of a growing tree.

There were eight pictures, each standing side-by-side, facing away from the tree and to Naruto and Anko as they knelt before them all.

The first was an old man, wise beyond even his years. He was Naruto's first mentor and the first besides his own mother to give him the respect and understanding that he so badly needed as a child. A leader on the front lines until the end, he would never be forgotten as the man who picked up the pieces of a breaking group when a traitor brought the walls down.

The next two were pictures of another older man, but still younger than the first, and a young woman who shared the same spark in their eyes. He wore a paper hat and smiled loudly in the picture. His daughter wore a similar white colored bandana, covering most of her hair. They were the best chefs in town, always picking up Naruto when he was down, and replacing his sorrows with delicious noodles. They were loyal to their friends first, and stood tall against their challenges.

The next was a well-tanned man, a thick scar going over the bridge of his nose. He was Naruto's second mentor, but nonetheless just as important as the first. His sacrifice would never be in vain, Naruto swore it.

The next pair of pictures featured a woman with vibrant red eyes and her husband, standing proudly next to her with a cigarette held between his teeth. Anko's closest friends until the end of the line and beyond, who also sacrificed much so Anko and Naruto could be happy. Mirai would need strength to carry on in their absence. It was a shame they could not bring her with them.

The second to last was a woman with strained red hair, a soft smile adorning her features as her violet eyes shone in the light. Behind her was an old and cracked fountain, still in operation despite all the troubles it had gone through.

The last was of a young man, a face just like Naruto's with the spiky blonde locks of hair to match. He stood tall and proud, one of his unique throwing knives in his hands as if he were about to leap at the camera. The light crackled around him in the photo, his smile wise, wide and dangerous.

The two sat there in silence, paying their respects to those who they had lost. Their importance to their lives, and their unfortunate loss.

They knew, however, that they were not the only ones out there. There were people all around who faced loss and tragedy. The Hamada's were in a similar boat, but their time for paying respect was not yet here. They still had time to enjoy life, to care for the people next to them without worrying about the past. But when that time came, Anko and Naruto would be right there with them, assisting them through it all and leading them to the light.

(Song end here)

* * *

 **Naruto's Adventures in America 2: Electric Boogaloo**

Another afternoon, Naruto had brought to Tadashi the prospect of getting himself lost in the city, losing himself to the winding roads to see what kinds of things were available or different in America in comparison to Japan. When Tadashi asked his role in all of this, Naruto informed him that he wanted Tadashi to be his golden string, always there for him in the event that he became too lost and couldn't find his way back.

He eventually agreed to the terms. Tadashi would be Naruto's golden string, and in return, Tadashi could call on Naruto for exactly one unquestioned favor. Naruto, being who he was, instantly chose to ask what sort of favor he would be performing, but Tadashi remained silent. Not only because he couldn't, but because he didn't yet know. That was the mysterious charm of an unquestioned favor to be asked for at a later date.

The agreement had been settled, and Tadashi would be his safety net in the event that he was to get too lost in the city.

However, one should always have a backup plan in the event that their safety net gets an important call and runs home before you can follow him back.

Three quarters through the day and Naruto was still walking about, looking at all of the little shops while Tadashi watched around them, his eyes on his phone every few minutes or so. He had gotten a call with important news, and was too busy rushing back to warn Naruto of his departure.

This led to Naruto reaching his house early the next morning, exhausted from running in circles while trying to get back to his house. Of course, being who he was, Naruto pardoned it and still allowed Tadashi to call him for any favor at any time, even though he did abandon Naruto in the middle of the inner city.

* * *

 **Howdy Doodly Neighborinos! It's your friendly neighborhood Pyroman back again with another chapter featuring my favorite mother and son duo and their adventures in America! Brownie Points to those who can guess the song I used WITHOUT GOOGLING THE LYRICS, but other than that, there's not much to say about this chapter. Of course, with things happening in my own flow, some events aren't happening as they did in the movie, but this is to help solidify things a little more than they were explained, and of course, liberties were taken with both the Movie-verse and the comic-verse of which these characters originated from. If you have something to say about the chapter, good or bad, don't forget to read, rate, and review!**

 **Until next time!**


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